16-year-old YOHIO's "REACH the SKY" mini-album hits in April

YOHIO isn't your average Visual Kei artist. This 16-year-old "bishounen" boy hails from Sweden, and plays for a Swedish Visual Kei band called Seremedy, which held its first Japanese tour last April. Now YOHIO is set to make his solo debut in Japan this April with his mini-album REACH the SKY.

Obviously YOHIO's feminine looks are one of his main attractions, but he also apparently has some serious guitar chops, and a firm handle on the Japanese language. Some of his favorite VK artists include MALICE MIZER (especially GACKT and Mana), Syu, and HIZAKI from Versailles.

According to his blog on the Japanese social networking site AMEBA, YOHIO has been interested in Japan since he was introduced to anime at the age of 10. From that point on he developed an interest in learning the language, and started reading Japanese blogs, later following Japanese celebrities on Twitter.

Prior to his album's April 25 release, YOHIO will perform at Takadanobaba ESP Music School's February 9 showcase. He is signed toUniversal Music Japan.